Skip to main content
PMC home page
Journal of Bacteriology logoLink to Journal of Bacteriology
. 1987 Oct;169(10):4848–4851. doi: 10.1128/jb.169.10.4848-4851.1987

Cloning and expression in Escherichia coli of chromosomal mercury resistance genes from a Bacillus sp.

Y Wang 1, I Mahler 1, H S Levinson 1, H O Halvorson 1
PMCID: PMC213867  PMID: 2820946

Abstract

A 7.9-kilobase (kb) chromosomal fragment was cloned from a mercury-resistant Bacillus sp. In Escherichia coli, in the presence of a second plasmid carrying functional transport genes, resistance to HgCl2 and to phenylmercury acetate (PMA) was expressed. Shortening the cloned fragment to 3.8 kb abolished resistance to PMA but not to HgCl2. In Bacillus subtilis, the 3.8-kb fragment produced mercuric reductase constitutively but did not produce resistance to HgCl2 or to PMA.

Full text

PDF
4851

Images in this article

4850Image
on p.4850

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Barkay T., Fouts D. L., Olson B. H. Preparation of a DNA gene probe for detection of mercury resistance genes in gram-negative bacterial communities. Appl Environ Microbiol. 1985 Mar;49(3):686–692. doi: 10.1128/aem.49.3.686-692.1985. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Barrineau P., Gilbert P., Jackson W. J., Jones C. S., Summers A. O., Wisdom S. The DNA sequence of the mercury resistance operon of the IncFII plasmid NR1. J Mol Appl Genet. 1984;2(6):601–619. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Birnboim H. C., Doly J. A rapid alkaline extraction procedure for screening recombinant plasmid DNA. Nucleic Acids Res. 1979 Nov 24;7(6):1513–1523. doi: 10.1093/nar/7.6.1513. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Bott K. F., Wilson G. A. Development of competence in the Bacillus subtilis transformation system. J Bacteriol. 1967 Sep;94(3):562–570. doi: 10.1128/jb.94.3.562-570.1967. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Cohen S. N., Chang A. C. Revised interpretation of the origin of the pSC101 plasmid. J Bacteriol. 1977 Nov;132(2):734–737. doi: 10.1128/jb.132.2.734-737.1977. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Foster T. J., Nakahara H. Deletions in the r-determinant mer region of plasmid R100-1 selected for loss of mercury hypersensitivy. J Bacteriol. 1979 Oct;140(1):301–305. doi: 10.1128/jb.140.1.301-305.1979. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Foster T. J. Plasmid-determined resistance to antimicrobial drugs and toxic metal ions in bacteria. Microbiol Rev. 1983 Sep;47(3):361–409. doi: 10.1128/mr.47.3.361-409.1983. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Fox B., Walsh C. T. Mercuric reductase. Purification and characterization of a transposon-encoded flavoprotein containing an oxidation-reduction-active disulfide. J Biol Chem. 1982 Mar 10;257(5):2498–2503. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Grunstein M., Hogness D. S. Colony hybridization: a method for the isolation of cloned DNAs that contain a specific gene. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1975 Oct;72(10):3961–3965. doi: 10.1073/pnas.72.10.3961. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Izaki K. Enzymatic reduction of mercurous and mercuric ions in Bacillus cereus. Can J Microbiol. 1981 Feb;27(2):192–197. doi: 10.1139/m81-030. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Laddaga R. A., Chu L., Misra T. K., Silver S. Nucleotide sequence and expression of the mercurial-resistance operon from Staphylococcus aureus plasmid pI258. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1987 Aug;84(15):5106–5110. doi: 10.1073/pnas.84.15.5106. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Mahler I., Levinson H. S., Wang Y., Halvorson H. O. Cadmium- and mercury-resistant Bacillus strains from a salt marsh and from Boston Harbor. Appl Environ Microbiol. 1986 Dec;52(6):1293–1298. doi: 10.1128/aem.52.6.1293-1298.1986. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Novick R. P., Murphy E., Gryczan T. J., Baron E., Edelman I. Penicillinase plasmids of Staphylococcus aureus: restriction-deletion maps. Plasmid. 1979 Jan;2(1):109–129. doi: 10.1016/0147-619x(79)90010-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. O'Halloran T., Walsh C. Metalloregulatory DNA-binding protein encoded by the merR gene: isolation and characterization. Science. 1987 Jan 9;235(4785):211–214. doi: 10.1126/science.3798107. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Rigby P. W., Dieckmann M., Rhodes C., Berg P. Labeling deoxyribonucleic acid to high specific activity in vitro by nick translation with DNA polymerase I. J Mol Biol. 1977 Jun 15;113(1):237–251. doi: 10.1016/0022-2836(77)90052-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Robinson J. B., Tuovinen O. H. Mechanisms of microbial resistance and detoxification of mercury and organomercury compounds: physiological, biochemical, and genetic analyses. Microbiol Rev. 1984 Jun;48(2):95–124. doi: 10.1128/mr.48.2.95-124.1984. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Southern E. M. Detection of specific sequences among DNA fragments separated by gel electrophoresis. J Mol Biol. 1975 Nov 5;98(3):503–517. doi: 10.1016/s0022-2836(75)80083-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Summers A. O. Organization, expression, and evolution of genes for mercury resistance. Annu Rev Microbiol. 1986;40:607–634. doi: 10.1146/annurev.mi.40.100186.003135. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Tanaka T., Kuroda M., Sakaguchi K. Isolation and characterization of four plasmids from Bacillus subtilis. J Bacteriol. 1977 Mar;129(3):1487–1494. doi: 10.1128/jb.129.3.1487-1494.1977. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Timoney J. F., Port J., Giles J., Spanier J. Heavy-metal and antibiotic resistance in the bacterial flora of sediments of New York Bight. Appl Environ Microbiol. 1978 Sep;36(3):465–472. doi: 10.1128/aem.36.3.465-472.1978. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Vieira J., Messing J. The pUC plasmids, an M13mp7-derived system for insertion mutagenesis and sequencing with synthetic universal primers. Gene. 1982 Oct;19(3):259–268. doi: 10.1016/0378-1119(82)90015-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Weiss A. A., Murphy S. D., Silver S. Mercury and organomercurial resistances determined by plasmids in Staphylococcus aureus. J Bacteriol. 1977 Oct;132(1):197–208. doi: 10.1128/jb.132.1.197-208.1977. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Williams D. M., Duvall E. J., Lovett P. S. Cloning restriction fragments that promote expression of a gene in Bacillus subtilis. J Bacteriol. 1981 Jun;146(3):1162–1165. doi: 10.1128/jb.146.3.1162-1165.1981. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Witte W., Green L., Misra T. K., Silver S. Resistance to mercury and to cadmium in chromosomally resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 1986 Apr;29(4):663–669. doi: 10.1128/aac.29.4.663. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Yanisch-Perron C., Vieira J., Messing J. Improved M13 phage cloning vectors and host strains: nucleotide sequences of the M13mp18 and pUC19 vectors. Gene. 1985;33(1):103–119. doi: 10.1016/0378-1119(85)90120-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Journal of Bacteriology are provided here courtesy of American Society for Microbiology (ASM)

RESOURCES